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by Sarah Daniels
Thisweek Newspapers
A look of disgust crosses Molly Grace Dickson's face as she passes a plastic sandwich bag filled with crushed corn flakes, warm water and yeast from her left hand to her right.
The 7-year-old crunches up her nose as she peers at the soggy brown mass within the bag. She squishes the bag between her palms.
“Ew. This feels gross,” she says to her fellow witches and wizards gathered around her. “This feels disgusting.”
Disgusting? Perhaps. Educational? Definitely.
Blind children will be able to start turning the pages of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince at the same time as sighted readers.
The sixth book will be available in a Braille version - which uses a series of raised dots for letters - on the big release date, 16 July.
This is the first time a book has been published to everyone at the same time
by John Lawless
It was an eight-year-old girl, not an 11-year-old boy wizard, who rescued J K Rowling from life on £70-a-week (NZ$180) benefits as a divorced single mother.
The eagerly anticipated launch next week of her latest book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, will propel Rowling's wealth further beyond the £562m she has already amassed from the record-breaking series.
Yet, as Nigel Newton, the chairman of Bloomsbury Publishing reveals today, the first Harry Potter manuscript was rejected by all of his major rivals. And it was only the pester-power of his daughter, Alice - who read a chapter and demanded more - that finally convinced the publisher he had a winner on his hands.
Scholastic announced today the winners of their essay contest Why I Love Reading Harry Potter!
Ten essays were chosen from more than 8,000 entries, with the 10 winners, from all areas across the United States , ranging in age from nine to seventeen. The winners of the contest will fly from New York City to London and at 12:01 am on July 16, they will be handed a free copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
Potter makes mark on dictionary
A newly-published dictionary for children has incorporated references to Harry Potter to help young readers understand the meaning of words.
The Oxford Primary Dictionary features hundreds of citations from children's authors including JK Rowling, Philip Pullman and Roald Dahl.
The publisher said using "'real' sentences provides a direct link to children's reading". The dictionary is aimed at seven- to 11-year-olds.
Harry Potter has publisher preparing for a hectic spell
BOOK publisher Bloomsbury said trading was in line with expectations as it revealed it was planning to embark on its biggest ever advertising campaign to plug the latest - the sixth - adventure of boy wizard Harry Potter.
The previous book in the series set publishing records by selling five million copies in just 24 hours.
Harry Potter campaign planned
By Peter John in London
Published: June 30 2005 17:15
Bloomsbury , the UK publisher transformed by Harry Potter , is poised to launch its biggest ever advertising campaign to coincide with the launch of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince .
On Thursday it said the second half of the year got off to a strong start with preparations for the launch of the sixth book in the series progressing in line with expectations.
Bloomsbury prepares for sixth Harry Potter |
Bloomsbury Publishing, the home to Harry Potter, said it was already reaping the benefits of next month's publication of the sixth novel in the boy wizard series, but investors still marked down the shares in late morning trading. |
SEATTLE -- Amazon.com ( www.amazon.com ) today unveiled its first-ever Harry Potter Kids Review Panel. These 10 young Harry Potter aficionados, ranging in age from 10 to 17 years, will serve as Amazon.com's Harry Potter "experts" on the Web site and in media interviews leading up to and following the much-lauded July 16 release of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince."
Some People Want a Sneak Peek at 'Potter'
By Scott Martelle
Los Angeles Times
J.K. Rowling's only U.S. media appearances coinciding with the release of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" will be a taped interview on NBC's "Today" show and an interview with Time magazine.
For the midnight July 16 release itself, Rowling will do a reading at Scotland 's Edinburgh Castle in front of 70 young fans selected by newspapers in England and several other countries (but not the United States ). The fans will be given books and will act as journalists for a kids-only news conference with Rowling.
The cover of the sixth Harry Potter book has been unveiled by Bloomsbury. It shows Harry with Dumbledore surrounded by some kind of flames which seem to be coming from the wand of Hogwarts' head teacher.
Not much is known about the plot of the book, but we do know that Lord Voldemort's powers and followers are increasing day by day.
Potter orders break million mark
Worldwide advance orders for the new Harry Potter book have exceeded one million, says online retailer Amazon.
At this rate, pre-orders should top the 1.3 million pre-orders received for the previous Harry Potter book in 2003.
Amazon's UK arm has already taken more than 200,000 pre-orders of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, published in the US and UK on 16 July.
A 38-year-old man appeared in court today and denied being part of a plot to sell two stolen copies of the latest book in the Harry Potter saga.
Christopher Brown pleaded not guilty at Kettering Magistrates' Court, Northants, to charges of helping in the theft of two copies of the book and of brandishing an extendable cosh in front of a newspaper reporter who was allegedly in negotiations to take the books.
The book publisher Bloomsbury share rce rose 7.5p to 377.5p after Amazon.com revealed that it had already received 560,000 orders for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the next instalment of JK Rowling's popular series of children's books.
